"the nastiest—and most absurd—philosophical
dispute…in the United States…."

ABBOT, FRANCIS ELLINGWOOD. Professor
Royce's Libel. A Public Appeal for Redress to the Corporation and Overseers of Harvard
University. Boston, Mass.: George H. Eliot, 141 Franklin St., 1891. 1st
ed. 48 pp. Original stiff printed wraps, darkened and a bit dust-soiled.[With:] ABBOT.Is Not Harvard Responsible for the Conduct of
her Professors, as well as of her Students? A Public Remonstrance Addressed to
the Board of Overseers of Harvard University.Boston: Geo. H. Ellis, Printer, 1892. 1st ed. 20 pp. Printed
wraps. Together, 2 items, 8vo., very
good. Shelf number neatly penned in red ink at head of front wrap of both
pamphlets, contemporary inscription on the front wrap of first,
"The Melbys[?]/from/T.M.H.".SOLDIn 1881 Abbot earned the second doctorate
conferred by Harvard in Philosophy. But, like Peirce, he was unable to secure
an academic post. In 1888 he was invited to lecture at Harvard during Royce's
absence (and at Royce's request). In 1890 the substance of these lectures was
published as The Way Out of Agnosticism. "For some reason…Royce
[now] set out to annihilate Abbot's reputation…. he wrote a long and devastating
review…. He accused Abbot of an unconscious and blundering borrowing from
Hegel, but more importantly, issued a 'professional warning' against Abbot's
'philosophical pretensions'…. Abbot's attempt at vindicating himself dragged on
until 1892, culminating in a public appeal to the Harvard Corporation and Board
of Overseers."—Kuklick (1977). The second title here shreds the spurious
distinction between "professional" and "professorial"
warnings that the Overseers had used to justify their inaction on Abbot's
earlier petition. No matter, his pleas were not successful: Royce was promoted
to full professor on the same day Abbot's claims were finally dismissed by the
Board. Ironically, only Peirce among his peers had come to Abbot's defense. Ten
years later, following publication of his magnum opus, The
Syllogistic Philosophy, Abbot committed suicide at his wife's grave.
Posterity has been kinder to him: "Royce's enthusiasm for idealism led him
to extend his criticism beyond proper philosophical limits and to engage in
personal attacks on Abbot. In view of twentieth century philosophical
developments…it is clear that Abbot was far more original than Royce would
admit."—Joseph Blau, in EP. These two pamphlets are very scarce.

BARRATT, ALFRED. Physical
Ethics or the Science of Action. An Essay. London & Edinburgh: Williams
& Norgate, 1869. 1st ed. 8vo. vi, 387 pp. Orig. cloth. $175.00 Barratt
(1844-1881) was something of a polymath, "achieving the unequalled
distinction of five first classes 'within four years and two months' from
beginning residence" at Balliol College, Oxford. "The book on
'Physical Ethics' is a remarkable performance for a youth of twenty-four,
showing wide reading and marked literary power. The leading idea is the unity
of all knowledge and the necessity of bringing ethics into harmony with the
physical sciences. The theory resembles, though in certain points it diverges
from, that of Mr. Herbert Spencer, whom the author recognizes as 'the greatest
philosopher of the age.' Barratt describes himself as an egoist, and in a
vigorous article called 'The Suppression of Egoism' defends his theory against
Mr. Sidgwick."--Leslie Stephen, in DNB. Barratt's only other book, Physical
Metempiric was edited by Carveth Read and published posthumously (1883);
both books are decidedly uncommon.

CHASTELLUX, [F.J.] DE. De
la Félicité Publique, ou Considérations sur le Sort des Hommes dan les
Différentes Époques de l'Histoire. Nouvelle Édition, Augmentée de Notes Inédites de Voltaire. Paris: A.-A. Renouard,
1822 [-1821].3rd ed. 2
vols. 8vo. [4], 350; [4], 332. Index in each volume. Contemporary ¾ leather and
marbled boards, spine direct-lettered in gilt. Spines lightly rubbed, moderate
foxing, one leaf in volume II pulled and slightly frayed at edges.SOLDThis edition not in Kress.
Goldsmiths 23385. Einaudi 1038. It is said that Chastellux learned English so
that he could read Hume in the original. (Hume is cited several times in the
text here and a lengthy note (II: pp. 135-136) supports him against the
criticisms of Wallace.) First published in 1772, this work argues that human
society can be perfected through reform and that the purpose of government is
to effect "the greatest happiness of the greatest number." Citing
this work as one of a number that anticipate Malthus in the belief that
"population will always increase to the limit set by the supply of means
of subsistence," Schumpeter characterizes it as "not without
merit." The question of population trends during different epochs, being
considered an index to whether societies were progressing or in a state of
decline, occupied many notable figures in England and France during the mid 18th
century. No editions in Jessop or Chuo.

GROTE, GEORGE. Fragments on Ethical Subjects. Being a Selection
from His Posthumous Papers [edited by Alexander Bain]. London: John Murray,
1876. 1st ed. 8vo. vii, 5, 230 pp., plus Mr. Murray's General
List ofBooks (32 pp., dated
January 1875) at end. Original cloth with leather spine labels (rubbed). Light
shelfwear, a signature carelessly separated resulting in short, marginal tear
to one leaf. Still, a very good copy, mostly unopened. With the signature of
one W. Grote on title.$175.00 Comprises six essays, chiefly on ancient philosophy,
including two on the ethics of Aristotle. Metz calls this Grote's "only
systematic work" of philosophy, which emphasizes "the social
character of morality more effectively than the [earlier] utilitarians had
done."

HAZLITT, WILLIAM.Essays On the Principles of Human
Action; On the Systems of Hartley and Helvetius; And on Abstract Ideas. Edited
by his son [William Hazlitt, Jr.]. London: John Miller [1836]. 2nd
ed. 12mo. [6], 176 pp. Disbound, name erased from title, textblock a little
browned at edges but very sound.$100.00 Second edition of Hazlitt's first, and philosophically most
important, book. The text is taken from the author's corrected manuscript of
the 1805 edition. The essay on Abstract Ideas (pp. 139-176) appears here for
the first time. "In the England of 1830…a humanism so darkly paradoxical
found little favor; but his powers as a thinker have been increasingly
recognized, and he appears today as the versatile Montaigne of his age, often
prefiguring in his essays the dynamacist philosophies of Nietzsche, Bergson,
William James, and Freud."—EP.

Pantheismusstreit

[JACOBI. F.H.] Ueber die
Lehre des Spinoza in Briefen an den Herrn Moses Mendelssohn. Neue vermehrte
Ausgabe. Breslau: Gottl. Löwe, 1789. Small 8vo. li, [1], 440 pp. Frontis.
portrait, engraved vignette portrait on titlepage and at conclusion of text.
Somewhat later(?) plain black boards backed with binder's cloth, hand-lettered
spine label (worn). Some minor wear to binding, spotty foxing throughout, some
signatures a bit browned.$600.00First published in 1785, this work initiated a controversy
that ultimately involved many of the leading intellectual figures in Germany,
including Goethe and Kant (who weighed in with two essays). The correspondence
between Jacobi and Mendelssohn was occasioned by a biography that Mendelssohn
was preparing of his friend Lessing. In these private letters Jacobi charged
that Lessing had confided to him shortly before his death that he was a
"Spinozist." Their (unauthorized) publication by Jacobi represented a
serious charge inasmuch as Spinoza was widely viewed as an atheist. Such was
Lessing's reputation, however, that the work had the effect opposite to what
Jacobi had envisioned: it led to a reevaluation of Spinoza. Indeed, it
"laid the foundation of a thorough study of Spinoza in Germany." (Erdmann,
§272, 1). This second edition of 1789 is noteworthy for several reasons. It is
considerably enlarged, including a lengthy new foreword (vii-li), Jacobi's
translation of "Diokles an Diotime über den Atheismus" (pp. 307-327)
by Hemsterhuis, and extracts from Del Infinito, apparently the first
appearance of anything by Bruno in German. It was also the edition studied
carefully by three students at Tübingen, Hölderlin, Hegel and Schelling:
"[t]he 'pantheism controversy' made an indelible mark on the three
friends."(Pinkard, pp. 30-31).
The engraved portrait is of Spinoza and the two vignettes are portraits of
Lessing & Mendelssohn, and of Jacobi. Wolf 829.

KAUFMANN, PETER. Der
Tempel der Wahrheit, oder Die Wissenschaft für immerdar fortschreitender
Erkenntniss;enthaltend die Grundlage
und Elemente eines Systemes, um zu absoluter Gewissheit in allen Dingen zu
gelangen; bestehend in einer immerdauernden Freuden-Botschaft, und dem
beharrlichen Herolde einer bessern Zeit, an alle Menschen, die eines guten
Willens sind, oder begehren, eines solchen zu werden. Cincinnati: herausgegeben
in Teutscher und Englisher Sprache. Verkauft und zu haben bey Truman &
Spofford und Eggers & Wilde. Canton, O., Beym Verfasser., 1858. 1st
ed. 8vo. vi, [7]-348 pp. Orig. cloth. Back board waterstained and soiled along
spine and edges, covers a little warped, with small tear at head of spine.
Faint tide-mark in bottom margin throughout, not affecting text. Some light
dust-soiling, a little heavier on several pages (pp. 10-11, 276-77), crease at
lower corner of title. Still, text block tight, sound and generally clean, a
better copy than the description might indicate. $250.00 The Temple of Truth, Kaufmann's magnum opus,
was issued simultaneously in English and German. Christian perfectionist,
social reformer, early American Hegelian and journalist, Kaufmann immigrated to
the U.S. around 1820. He was instrumental in starting the first American Labor
for Labor store, in Philadelphia , later joining the "Economites,"
George Rapp's community on the Ohio River. Thereafter he was involved in the
founding of the short-lived, communistic "Society of the United Germans of
Teutonia" at Petersburg, Ohio. In 1831 he settled in Canton, Ohio where
for the next 38 years he was a vibrant social and intellectual force in the
community. The present work found many readers (including an enthusiastic
Emerson), no doubt due in part to Kaufmann's declaration to use the proceeds to
found an institution for "the benefit of man and the relief of suffering
humanity."For a good summary of
Kaufmann's career, see Easton, Hegel's First American Followers, Chapter
4: "Peter Kaufmann on Social Perfection and Dialectics" (pp. 95-122).

(LOTZE.) JONES, HENRY. A
Critical Account of the Philosophy of Lotze. The Doctrine of Thought. Glasgow:
James Maclehose & Sons, 1895. 1st ed. 8vo. xvi, 357 pp., plus 32
page Catalogue of the Publications of James Maclehose and Sons (Glasgow
1895) at end. Orig. cloth. Some foxing to title and endpapers, else a fine,
bright copy.$85.00Passmore calls this Jones' "most important polemical
work" and characterizes it as "a vigorous attempt, from a neo-Hegelian
point of view, to stem the tide of Lotze's influence [in England]."

The Religion of Humanity

RUGE, ARNOLD. Die Religion
unserer Zeit. Leipzig: Verlagsbureau, 1849. 1st ed. Square 12mo.
[2], 92 pp. Contemporary black paste-paper boards with hand-lettered label.
Paper worn away along hinges, spotty foxing throughout text. A very sound copy.
Owner's signature dated 1850 on front flyleaf.SOLDSteinhauer
1698. As editor, philosopher, historian, poet, translator, in short, publicist,
Ruge was an influential critic of the old order and a key figure in the spread
of democratic liberalism throughout Europe in the mid 19th century.
As elder statesman of the Young Hegelians, he helped to found the influential Hallische
Jahrbücher für deutsche Kunst und Wissenschaft (1838-1843): "To this
day German philosophy has nothing comparable to this journal which could equal
it in critical forcefulness, effectiveness, and influence upon political
theory."—Löwith. Following removal to Paris, Ruge served as co-editor with
Marx of the Deutsche-FranzöscheJahrbücher "but had little
sympathy with Marx's socialistic theories and soon left him."—EB 13.
By 1849 Ruge had immigrated to England where he spent the remainder of his
prolific life (translating Buckle's History of Civilization into German,
for example). "Ruge's popular Die Religion unserer Zeit is meant as
a derivation of the religion of humanism from the historical religions; in its
style, as in its content, it is a precursor of Strauss's 'new faith.' But even in
this humanistic attenuation Ruge's program is a direct consequence of Hegel's
spiritualization of Christian ideas…." (Löwith). The work would appear to
quite rare: the Karlsruhe database locates 4 copies: Hessischer Verbundkatalog;
Universitätsbibliotek, Halle; Universitätsbibliotek, Greiswald;
Herzog-August-Bibliotek, Wolfenbüttel. It was not found in the RLIN, OCLC,
COPAC or British Library databases.

SUNDERLAND, LaROY. Ideology:
Mental Anæsthesia Self-Induced, Miraculous Cures Self-Made, Involution and
Evolution in the Human Mind as in the Whole of Things. Volume I. [Bound
with, as issued:] Ideology: The Romance and Miracle in Ideal Contagion and
Mental Epidemics. Men Go Mad in Crowds. Volume II.Boston, Mass.: Published by J.P. Mendum, 1885. Together, 2
volumes in 1, as issued. 1st ed. 8vo. vi, [2], 138; vii, [1], 200
pp., plus 12 page Catalogue of Liberal Books Published and For Sale by J.P.
Mendum(Boston: Published by J.P.
Mendum, 1885) at end. Orig. cloth, light shelfwear. Contemporary owner’s
signature on front fly and in gutter margin of one leaf of text. Very
good.$150.00Scarce late publication by Sunderland, fervid abolitionist
and advocate of a philosophy he termed Panthetism. The works here
contain chapters on the South Sea and Mississippi bubbles, the Crusades,
Christian Science, “the witchcraft madness, &c., plus numerous other events
representing mass delusion.A third
volume of Ideology with the subtitle Nutrition, instinct,
innervation, sensation, consciousness, memory, thinking, consecutive ideaswasissued separately in 1887.RLIN and OCLC together record volumes I-III at 5 institutions and RLIN
adds a copy of volumes I-II (as here) at the California State Library. Mendum
was a reformer and a noted publisher of works on freethought, free speech,
botanic medicine, birth control, &c.

WHEWELL, WILLIAM. Lectures
On the History of Moral Philosophy in England. London: John W. Parker and Son,
1852. 1st ed. 8vo. xxxii, 265 pp. Contemporary diced rose calf gilt,
a.e.g. Binding a bit rubbed and faded with small wear to extremities, corner
clipped from front blank. A sound copy, tight and clean. Contemporary engraved
bookplate of a Harrow owner on front pastedown, recent owner's blindstamp on
front blank.$100.00Comprises 18 lectures, the last six (pp. 188-265) being
devoted to Bentham. Fourteen Additional Lectures were published in 1862.
Whewell's "intuitionism"is
considered in detail in Mill's Utilitarianism (1863).